The only truly abstract photo was Kathi’s. Distortion or reflection by itself is not abstraction. Kathi’s photo distills the essence of the Amtrak liners without actually representing them directly. The silvery fluted texture, the red, white and blue patterns all say “Amtrak” for those that understand the symbols. Otherwise, they are just pleasant squiggles that have an artistic appeal all their own. That is abstraction. Good job Kathi!
Karl Ruser
Two comments on this round.
First, was Kathi in a house of mirrors somewhere to get her shot, or in a department store fitting room down by the tracks? It struck me odd that the lettering on the car was not sdrawkcab.
Second, it must have been by some stroke of amazing luck that Drew managed to pop his shutter at the exact moment that the train was going by in one direction, and the Ford truck was zooming by the other. Amazing!
Nobody is running away from the pack this time! It was really tough deciding. We ended up going with Drew but Tom came in very close and Kathi’s picture is the only “true” abstract but… Great shooting all of you!
Chuck
I really liked the “lightsabers” in Toms photo. Seams like something from a Star Wars movie (imagine how it’d looked if it been a NS engine!), so I just had to vote on that one!
Mattias
Kathi’s photo: the sharp colors jump out, and the subject can still be identified. Great for anyone who rides a train into a city with all those windows next to the right-of-way. Great potential title photo for an article about passenger rail.
Erik’s photo crosses railfanning with boating very nicely; if you’re willing to hike for your unique shots, try boating for all those places where the rail follows the river.
I voted for Drew. This photo stopped me. This shot didn’t find you, you found the shot. This photo combines the thrill of automobiles with the thrill of railfanning to get a shot that’s American as all hell. The train is clear in the reflection, nothing else distracts from it; most rental vans have dings in the front surfaces (and most aren’t that clean, hmm). I keep thinking of new reasons why it’s a good shot, so that in itself means it’s the best.